


A Game of Skill

by Accidental_Ducky



Series: Undercover Games [2]
Category: Mission: Impossible, Mission: Impossible (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-28
Updated: 2016-04-22
Packaged: 2018-04-17 17:21:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4675058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Accidental_Ducky/pseuds/Accidental_Ducky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cat thought Ethan was joking at first, that she could enjoy the quiet while the kids are with Alex for the weekend, but then she noticed the way Ethan's grin wasn't as wide as it usually was. Why couldn't she just enjoy retirement? Because of Ethan fucking Hunt's pouty-face, that's why.</p><p>Sequel to A Game of Spies</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Outfits:  
> http://www.polyvore.com/mission_impossible_series/collection?id=4606509

When Cat returned from Walmart she was expecting her house to be empty, but was greeted by loud swearing coming from the kitchen. Curious and not the least bit scared of burglars, she kicks the front door shut and walks down the short hall on her right into the kitchen, finding Alex bent over the sink, his shirt soaking wet as he hits the appliance with a wrench. "What did my sink do to make you beat it with a wrench," she asks, setting the bags down on the table.

"I was fixing it," he replies, tossing the wrench back in his box of tools.

"It wasn't broken."

"It is now." Cat looks around him at her sink, the metal dented in places with a small stream of water spraying out of what was left of the faucet. "I'll pay for the repairs." Cat pokes one of the handles and Alex winces as it falls into the basin with a loud _clang_. "I'll buy you a brand new sink."

"Yes you will, Alexander." She gives him a look that all moms have mastered by the time their kids reach age two, the one that says _you done fucked up_. "Why are you even here so early when Isaac doesn't get out of school until after three and Iliana won't be back from my mom's house until just before that?" She moves back over to the table, pulling the groceries out of the bags, and handing Alex the ones that needed to be kept refrigerated. _If he's going to break my sink, then the least he can do is help me put shit up._

"I know, I just thought we could all stay here this weekend..." Cat freezes, her hand resting on a box of macaroni. "Uh, Kara kicked me out and said not to come back until she calmed down. A week should be good."

"What the hell did you do to her?"

"I yelled at her, she yelled back, the dog was barking...It was very emotional."

"You got mad at her so you come over here and take it out on my sink?!" She chunks the box at his head, but Alex ducked so it hit one of the cabinets and exploded.

"Could you please not throw pasta at me?"

"I was gonna get laid this weekend, you ass!" Alex opened his mouth, ready to grovel, but his eyes focused on something over Cat's shoulder and his expression turned grave. Taking his expression to mean something bad for Cat, she rests her hands on her hips. "Jesus, what else did you break before I caught you?"

"Your buddy's coming up the walkway." Cat turns as the kitchen door opens to admit Ethan inside.

"Am I interrupting something," Ethan asks, looking from Cat's glowering expression, to Alex's relieved one, to the macaroni covering the floor, and back to Cat again. "I can come back later." He pointed over his shoulder at the door, but Alex jumped at the chance to be rescued, or at least focus Cat's anger on someone else for a second or two.

"No! If you leave, who knows what else she'll throw at me next!" Alex dove behind Ethan when his ex raised a bar of soap, the squeak he lets out making it hard for Cat to remain angry.

"Catarina Nicole Alveres, you put that soap down this instant." Cat does as she's told when Ethan uses his teacher voice, pouting the entire time. "Alex, you are a grown man, let go of my leg." The other man was crouching behind Ethan, hugging his legs like Isaac did when he was six.

"Would you wanna face her when she's so close to blunt objects?"

"Fair enough." Ethan shakes his head a little, hands stuffed in his jacket pockets. Now, how the man was wearing a jacket in the middle of a heat wave in Oklahoma had Cat baffled. _How hasn't he died from a heatstroke yet?_ "We have a new mission and I'm gonna need your help." Cat thought Ethan was joking at first, that she could enjoy the quiet while the kids were with Alex for the weekend, but then she noticed the way Ethan's grin wasn't as wide as it usually was. Why couldn't she just enjoy retirement? Because of Ethan fucking Hunt's pouty-face, _that's_ why.

As Cat processed her friend's words, Alex rose and walked over to her, delivering a sympathetic pat to her shoulder," Looks like you're not getting laid this weekend after all."

He lets out a high-pitched shriek and scrambles out of the room when she grabs for the soap.

* * *

Ethan and Alex spent the next day out shopping for a new sink, the list of demands Cat sent with them tucked in Ethan's pocket where it would be safe and wouldn't fall out before they were finished. While the men were away, Cat was busy preparing the guest room for Alex to sleep in until Kara decided she wouldn't try to smother him while he slept. Cat had called the other woman the night before, quickly figuring out that the argument had started when Alex demanded Kara make some food for his Superbowl party and she told him just where he could shove that idea. Personally, Cat agreed with Kara and Alex would be lucky if he made it out of here without Cat slapping the back of his head.

As it was, Isaac and Iliana were sitting on the floor of the room, the eight year old showing the one year old some type of game that he learned at school. She was proud of how Isaac treated his little sister, most boys his age would be jealous, but Isaac seemed to have an infinite amount of patience where the baby was concerned. He didn't even get upset when she tried to eat his Gameboy, which Cat was extremely happy about. Cat smiled as she watched the kids, paying more attention to the way her daughter looked at Isaac with large brown eyes than to the pillow she was currently forcing inside a pillowcase.

It was just too cute to miss and she really wished she'd brought her camera up here. As she set the pillow down on the freshly made bed, she heard the sound of cracking wood and then a loud bang that followed. She didn't give herself time to think, years of training kicking in as she picked up Iliana, grabbed Isaac's hand, and brought them into the master bedroom with her. "Mommy," Isaac whimpers, tears gathering in his eyes as the sounds downstairs grow louder. Someone was ransacking her house, but she wasn't about to go downstairs and leave her children up here by themselves. She gently hands Iliana to her brother before moving across the room to get her pistol out of the dresser drawer.

"Isaac, remember that game we used to play before your sister was born," she asks, her adrenaline spiking as the sounds grow closer to the stairs. "We're going to play it now, alright?" He nodded, bottom lip trembling, but he only tightened his hold on the baby. "Okay, take your sister and go in the secret room behind Mommy's clothes." Alex had gotten the idea after watching Spy Kids for the first time, a panic room hidden in the closet with a door made to look like it was just a wall. "Go, baby, go!" As her children disappeared in her closet, Cat locks the door to her room and presses her back against it as firmly as possible. She would shoot them all, but she had to know her kids were safe first. as she felt the first person shoulder against the door, her cell began to ring.

"There are people breaking into your house," Ethan was shouting through the phone as Cat struggled to keep the bedroom door shut so her kids could hide in the panic room.

"They're already in my house," Cat shouts back, the phone cradled between her ear and shoulder. The wood of her door was splintering and she could feel pieces of it cutting into her back. "E, I might need some help here, so if you could hang up and storm inside, that would be great!" The door gives another shudder before she's thrown forward and the pistol is knocked out of her hand on impact. She makes a lunge for it, but a boot rests firmly on her back to keep her in place.

"Don't move, girly," a goon says, his Southern accent thick. He sounded young, maybe in his mid-twenties, his reflection in the window helping her reach the guess. He was tall and broad-shouldered, his black hair just long enough to hang in front of his eyes; the two others with him were just as large, and she saw they were all carrying some type of blunt weapon—a baseball bat, a thick tree branch, and the one using her as a doormat held a crowbar. "Where do you keep all your cash?"

"In a bank account, dick."

"Don't get sassy!" She grunts when he kicks her side, but she didn't feel her ribs give out, so she took that as a good sign. Winded from the blow, she arched her back up to throw the man off-balance, following him backwards and landing on top of him with her elbow fracturing at least one of his ribs. Her sudden move had the other two shell-shocked just long enough for Cat to grab the crowbar and stand up, breathing heavily. "Don't just stand there, kill the bitch!"

"Would you just shut up?" She brings her foot down hard on the man's head, knocking him out just before the other two men charged at her. She really wished they would have done this one at a time like in the movies, but her life has never been so simple. She throws the crowbar, hitting Goon 2 square in the shoulder, but Goon 3 brings his branch down hard on the side of her head. She hisses, stumbling back as black spots explode in front of her; unable to do anything when he brought the branch down again on her back, sending her to the ground near Goon 1. "Goddammit." She brings her leg around, knocking Goon 3 off his feet before she climbed on top of him to wrestle for the branch.

As she was doing this, she could hear the faint sounds of footsteps coming down the hall, but didn't have time to think on it when she rams the branch against Goon 3's face to make him join Goon 1. Goon 2, not completely recovered yet, swings the bat and would have hit Cat's head with it if Ethan hadn't rammed into him, the two of them falling to the ground and struggling until Ethan brought his fist back and delivered two hard punches to the man's face.

"Are you alright," Alex asks, helping her up on the bed so she could catch what little breath she could.

"What the hell took you so long?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Made the mistake of buying a Chromebook today after my other computer broke; can't install Word, no Caps lock, no iTunes. Horrible mistake. -_- Bear with me if I missed any mistakes. Hopefully I'm not too busy to return this damn computer today once my nephew goes home or at least stops crying when I leave the room.

After Cat made sure her house was repaired and the burglars-turned-attempted-murderers were hauled off, she checked her kids and ex into the closest hotel that was minus bedbugs and had an inside pool for Isaac to play in. While Ethan went on ahead, she was going to stay for an extra hour or so to reassure her son that she would be back before he even missed her. In her six year retirement, the two of them had only grown closer, especially after Alex moved in with Kara and Iliana was born last year. "Remember when Mommy was gone a lot," she asked, keeping her voice low since Iliana was sleeping in her crib a few feet away.

"No," Isaac replies, voice hoarse from the crying he'd done that day. Feeling tears of her own gathering, she wrapped her son up in her arms even though he always told her that he was too big now to sit in her lap. He didn't resist this time, just laid his head against her shoulder and allowed her to rock him like she did back when he was still her baby boy. The last time she did this was back when he was five, he'd had a nightmare that left him shaking and she had stayed with him the rest of the night. Now he was eight, he thought he was a man like his daddy, and refused to be babied if he could help it.

"I love you, Sweetheart."

"I love you too, Mommy." She rested her cheek against his curls, just holding him as tightly as she could since she knew she may not come home again. She wasn't sure what she was up against or what would happen on this mission, Ethan wasn't even sure except that IMF was interested in a high-end criminal. "Promise me you'll come home?" She didn't meet his gaze when he pulled back, she couldn't lie to his face like that when he looked to her as the one person who would never lie to him.

"I'll try."

"It's dangerous?" His hazel eyes have gone wide, red and swollen from crying, but still holding the innocence Cat had lost the first time she killed someone. "Why do you and Uncle E have to go?"

"Because we're some of the best people on the job." Calming slightly, Isaac rests his head on her shoulder again, his arms wrapped around her and his fingers playing with the fabric of her shirt. The way he was constantly moving, even just a little, showed that he was more tired than he let on. "How about I sing you your old lullaby before I leave?" She'd expected him to refuse, to tell her that he wasn't a baby anymore like he always did when she offered to sing to him, but tonight he just gave a slight nod and tightened his grip on her shirt. Slowly, she lays them both down on the king-sized bed, Isaac's head resting over her heart, one of his arms around her middle, and one of his legs over both of hers.

"I'm ready," he whispers, closing his eyes. Cat closes her eyes as well, feeling the tears begin to fall, though she didn't let it show in her voice.

" _Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high, there's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby. Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true. Someday I'll wish upon a star and wake up where the clouds are far behind me. Where troubles melt like lemon drops; away above the chimney tops, that's where you'll find me_." Isaac had drifted off and Alex moved to sit on the edge of the bed, resting one hand on Cat's ankle, his thumb absently rubbing against the small infinity tattoo she'd gotten in college. " _Somewhere over the rainbow, bluebirds fly. Birds fly over the rainbow; why then, oh why can't I? If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow why, oh why, can't I?_ "

"It'll be okay, Cat," Alex says as he helps her get out from under their son. "You'll come back because you have three of the five people that love you most waiting for you right here." She gives a soft smile, hugging Alex as she did before she left on every mission. It was habit by now and Alex was hugging the smaller woman back.

"Who's the other two people?"

"Ethan and your uncle Beckett." She wondered if the man she's been dating for three weeks would miss her if she died. He was an agent as well, one that was quickly rising through the ranks just as she and Ethan had, though this man had gotten a later start. He could be Secretary if he kept this up, but he would be leaving for Brazil tomorrow on a mission on his own, no contact allowed except for emergency extraction. "This one should be easier than your last mission." Hopefully she won't be forced onto a train this time around.

"I suppose so." She draws in a deep breath, letting it out slowly as she composed herself and forced the tears to stop. "Hopefully I'll see you all soon and we can have a family night at my house. Bring Kara with you, it'll do her good to get used to me since it looks like the two of you will be married." Cat and Kara weren't what you'd call best friends, but they were slowly getting there as they complained to each other about Alex's bad habits and the kids' schedule. "Alright, it's time to leave." She rises on her toes to place a chaste kiss on Alexander's cheek before she shouldered her backpack and moved over to kiss the top of Isaac's head. He looked almost exactly like her, he even shared the light tan that came from Cat's Spanish heritage. Iliana was a blend of both Alex and Cat with black hair, dark brown eyes, and a tiny nose that flattened slightly at the end.

"When you get back, I expect a souvenir this time and I don't mean I want to sign the cast around your broken wrist."

"You told me not to come back with a new scar and I didn't," she points out with a smile. She was starting to feel like herself again, the excitement of the mission finally hitting her now that she wasn't holding her crying son. Cat kisses her fingers and then presses them gently against her daughter's head, brushing down a few stubborn locks that seemed to permanently stick straight up in the font. Unlike her brother, Iliana's hair was straight like Cat's and the two shared the color with Cat's father, though she'd always say she got it from her uncle instead. Beckett and Thomas Worthing were identical where there looks were concerned, but Thomas had decided to be a criminal, knock up the daughter of his assistant, and then get himself locked up for committing man slaughter two days after Catarina was born. Thankfully for Cat, Beckett was all too eager to step up and help take care of his favorite (and only) niece.

"Hey." She pauses in the doorway to the penthouse suite, looking back at Alex over her shoulder. "I still love you, you know." He didn't mean it in a romantic or platonic way, their love was somewhere in between and was only there because of their shared experiences and their two children.

"Love you, too." The guilt hit her when she made it to the airport and boarded her uncle's plane, but she forced it aside and her usual confident façade rose to the surface. Ethan needed her help with this one, IMF selected her to be on his team, but she still couldn't wait for it to be over so she could return home to her babies. She was just starting to wonder what she would have to do upon landing when her cell began to ring and jerked her out of her thoughts. "Alveres," she answers without looking to see who was calling.

"Wow, that's awfully formal this time," a familiar voice teases. It was her...Well, not exactly her boyfriend, but she was hoping to get to that point.

"Will," she says with a smile," sorry, I was distracted."

"Hey, no big deal, Cat." She could hear his quiet chuckle and relaxed further in the swivel chair she occupied. It was strange how he managed to calm her so easily, it was something even Ethan wasn't capable of doing, but Will could do it with a glance or a laugh. "How's everything going in Oklahoma?"

"Crazy..." She scoffs, thinking back to the goon squad that had broken into her house. "Alex broke my sink and the day after that three men broke in and tried to rob me."

"How badly did you hurt them?"

"One had a fractured collarbone, one had a concussion, and the other one Ethan took care of." As an agent, Will already knew who I was talking about when I mentioned Ethan, so there was no reason to stop and explain. "The kids and Alex are staying in a hotel until Alex is safe to go home, so Isaac should have fun in the pool and a later bedtime."

"What about you?"

"I got a new mission that takes top priority. Apparently it's a get out of retirement free card that I didn't want to play." She props her booted feet up on the table, sinking further down in the chair with posture that would make her aunt whack her with a purse. "How about you, kick any ass at the gym?"

"No one would spar with me since the last guy had to go get stitches." She can't help but giggle at that, knowing how aggressive Will could be when it comes to his fighting. "You wouldn't think it was so funny if you got stuck with the guy's hospital bill."

"I have to pay Ethan's after we spar, remember?"

"But he has to pay your's, too. It was a mutual thing back before you retired. Now you just use the gym as your own personal Fight Club."

"Oh, honey, you just broke the first rule!" He laughs louder this time and she could picture him running a hand through his short blonde hair. "If I make it out of this alive, then I was wondering if you'd like to meet Alex and Kara."

"Your ex and your ex's current fiance? You realize how weird that is to us normal people, right?"

"Oh please, don't pretend like you're normal when we do shit like this for a paycheck." He laughs again, the goofy one that he reserved only for the people he was closest to. "Have you been to Brazil before?" She'd asked him that before, but they'd been interrupted before he was able to answer.

"Nope, this is the first time."

"Yeah, this job is like the military—you travel to new places for free, you get close to new people, and then you usually have to kill them at some point. At least, that's been most of my missions so far." She gives a shrug even though she knows he can't see it, her body relaxing further when he begins to talk again. She liked how his voice sounded, not insanely deep, but smooth and confident; it was a perfect match with the rest of him. He was tall and fit, though a little chubby like Cat, and his hair was short like Ethan's had been just last year before he decided to grow it out, and was a dark blonde. His movements were graceful like many agents that spent their time fighting, they were fluid and practiced. "I think I'm going to miss you."

"I  _know_ I'm going to miss you." There was the sound of a muffled voice on his end, Will replying to someone else and holding the phone against his chest for a minute before the other person left and Will returned to the conversation he and Cat were having. "Sorry, Baby, it looks like we're leaving earlier than expected."

"Alright, well, tell me all the fun bits when we meet up again. And...Be safe."

"You be safe, too."

"I'll do my best, but no promises." They said quick goodbyes before Cat snapped her phone closed and shoved back into the pocket of her jeans. She was tempted to call Alex and ask him if the kids were still okay, but that would only succeed in waking Iliana up, and Alex didn't need a screaming infant on his hands. Slowly, the events of the past few days catch up to her, exhaustion mixing with the familiar hum of the plane's engine has her eyes closing and sleep taking over.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have outfits posted on Polyvore that I based Cat's outfits on if you'd like to get a rough idea of them. I suck at describing clothes, so I thought that might be useful if you're curious.
> 
> http://www.polyvore.com/mission_impossible_series/collection?id=4606509

Cat had never mastered the art of flirting, not really, but she's made playing drunk an art form. She had ran into—because stalked is a strong word—one Nyah Nordoff-Hall in a fancy club where the other woman was cleverly talking a man in a suit out of his wallet. It was by luck, and a little bit of digging, that Cat had found the woman, but it was pure talent—she liked to think so, at least—that had Nyah coming her way. The woman was gorgeous with short brown hair, skin the color of hot chocolate and sinfully dark eyes. Cat was jealous of her hourglass figure, but never broke character. She was supposed to be drunk, supposed to be clumsy in her attempts at flirting, and not at all in control of what came out of her mouth. So, feeling smug since Ethan didn't come up with the idea, she allows information about an expensive Bulgari necklace that was to be sold soon at an auction to slip out.

And, the next night, it was Ethan's turn to have a plan full of his usual smugness. "You know the Flamenco, right," he asked, holding up a dark red and orange dress tailored to fit her. After an argument that caused the hotel manager to scold them both, and Cat throwing a vase at Ethan's fat head, she disappeared in the bathroom to change. You'd think she'd be used to costumes, given her line of work and the fact that she danced in high school, but Cat wasn't very fond of dancing in front of a crowd of people in a dress that would barely cover her boobs. All the same, she and Ethan arrived at the address in different cars and at different times, Cat relaying to the person in charge that she would be filling in for the dancer that had sprung her ankle. The practice went smoothly, Cat able to remember the steps without stumbling too often.

So, when it was time to perform in front of the party guests, she didn't feel like she was going to lose her lunch, but she did wonder what was stopping her from killing Ethan. "On my six," she whispers into the small device set into her bracelet, knowing Ethan could hear her since he'd been chatting away all damn night. As the dance shifted, Cat was left onstage as the others rushed to get in their other costumes, Cat tapping out the beat with the heals of her shoes, spinning in time with it. She clutched part of her dress to avoid stepping on it, the gauzy overlay giving the impression of fire as the sequins on top sparkled in the dim lighting. _I could use this dress to strangle him_. As she continued to dance, Nyah and Ethan spotted each other from across the room.

Two other dancers rejoined her on the stage as Ethan and Nyah disappeared, the most complicated part of the dance coming up. If she messed up, then her throat and the back of her head would take a blow from a dulled knife. Her breathing speeding up, Cat thought back to her training, counting the steps and beats. _If you can kill a man with your thighs, then you can perform this move_. Before she allowed herself to over-complicate things, Cat dropped to the ground, legs bent at the knee on either side of her, and her hands clasped above her head seconds before the other two dancers swing their knives around. _Holy shit, I actually did it!_ With a breathless laugh, she allows the other two to help her up.

"Not bad for a novice," the one of her left said.

"Better than three years ago," Cat returns in flawless Spanish. Her mother had been raised in Seville, as had Cat's maternal grandparents, but this was her first trip to Spain since she was five.

"Go and take a break; send Carmen out for the next dance."

"Thank, Christ." With an dramatic curtsy for the guests, Cat hops off the stage and heads to the guest room where the others were resting. "Carmen," she calls out at the darker-skinned dancer," your turn." Carmen and two others left, Cat taking advantage of their absence to remove the costume and pull on a simple boho gypsy skirt, a pair of more comfortable heels, and a corset-styled top in blue and gold. Shaking her hair loose of the ponytail, she pushes open the window and seats herself on the ledge, staring down at the sloping roof and hard ground that awaited her if she jumped. The heels were thick dancer's heels, they would help to break her fall or her ankle one, but she should survive.

Looking over her shoulder to make sure she wouldn't be caught, Cat slides off the ledge and hits the roof, bringing her knees up to her chest as she continued to slide forward. That was a perk of the skirt she wore, it wouldn't get tangled up in her legs when she ran. As she slid over the edge of the roof, she mentally prepared herself for the impact. Her feet hit the ground first and she continued forward in a roll before rising again with a relieved sigh. Well, she hadn't broken anything more than a nail, and that could be patched up back at the hotel. "Are you okay, señora," an older man asks when he rounds the corner," you look a bit disheveled." Cat knew her hair would be wild from the fall, and she had a few scrapes and bruises, so she could understand why the man was so concerned.

"I've been worse," she smiles," no worries, señor." With a reassuring pat on his shoulder, Cat walks towards the gates, planning on going back to the hotel since, if the alarm going off for a second time that night was any indication, Ethan was finished and just showing off his toys. She spotted her dark-haired friend at the gates, a car holding Miss Hall speeding off and leaving him there. "That looked like it went well." Ethan looks down at her when she reaches his side, hands in his pockets and an eyebrow cocked up.

* * *

Cat dressed for comfort the next day—a dark red spaghetti strap shirt, short jean shorts, a pair of ankle boots, the ring Isaac had picked out for Mother's Day, a black razor blade double wrap bracelet, and sunglasses. Her hair was in a messy braid that hung over one shoulder and she was busy repainting her nails when Ethan returned with coffee. "It's almost a hundred degrees out there and you're drinking coffee," she says, sending Ethan a look. "You, my friend, are insane."

"Aren't we all, Cat," he returns handing her a cup of iced tea.

"Ya know, I was mostly sane before I met you. Now I've completely lost it."

"Sweetie, you never had it to begin with." She flipped him the bird, blowing on the black polish to make it dry faster. "I'm heading out to find Nyah again; you gonna follow behind?"

"When I'm finished with this." She waggles her fingers at him to show him they were still wet and he sets her keys down on the table. "I'll track the GPS in your car in...Mm, two minutes, three tops depending on this polish. It's a new brand, I'm not sure if I like it yet."

"I think it looks nice." Ethan shrugs, kissing the top of her head before pocketing his wallet and sliding his sunglasses on. "See you in a few, Cat." Cat gives a nod, going back to blowing on her nails as her best friend leaves her alone in the hotel room again. She enjoyed the silence when she could get it, but sometimes she really missed the sound of her daughter's excited squeals or the sounds of Isaac riding his skateboard around in the driveway. She would have to Skype them later, she wanted to see her babies and she was even starting to miss that hard-headed jackass of an ex.

"Alright," she sighs after testing the polish," let's get this over with."

She slides on her sunglasses, grabs her keys, and walks down to the parking lot where the silver Corvette IMF paid for was waiting for her. She loved her cars, though she didn't have a license since she was caught driving high when she was fifteen. Uncle Beckett was extremely disappointed and she stopped the drugs, but nothing stopped her from driving. As the car comes to life, Cat gains a broad grin and speeds down the road. Using the GPS tracker and listening to the screeching of car tires, she found Ethan and Nyah without a hitch.

Cat stops her car on the road near where Ethan's and Nyah's had crashed, smirking and looking at the breathless pair the rim of her sunglasses. "Y'all need a ride or should I give you some time alone?"

"Ha, ha," Ethan replies sarcastically, still grinning when he meets his best friend's gaze. "I suppose I should introduce the two of you?"

"Oh, Nyah and I have already met."

"Oh?"

"Mm, yes," Nyah adds, moving to sit beside Cat in the new car and waiting for Ethan to join them. "She and I had an interesting chat before you and I met last night. She's the one that told me about the necklace."

"You see," Cat sighs, pressing down on the gas and speeding down the twisting dirt road," you would be so lost without me."

"I have some doubt about that theory," Ethan remarks, resting his arm around Nyah's shoulders in order give him a small amount of space since he was squished between Nyah and the door. "I mean, I've done pretty well during your retirement."

"You were nearly killed by our old boss, you were shot in the shoulder, you broke three fingers at the same time you dislocated your shoulder, _and_ you nearly had your head cut off." She spares him a look before staring back at the road. "I think there's a reason IMF wanted me to come back with you on this case."

"Hey, the fingers and shoulder was from sparring with you."

"I was still retired, so shit happens." She laughs when she feels him flick her shoulder, reaching around her passenger to flick him back. "God, I really have missed this."


	4. Chapter 4

"I'm not looking," Cat calls out as she enters Ethan's room, her hand covering her eyes as she feels around for the bathroom door. "My shower isn't working and this heat is making me feel sticky." She could hear Nyah's breathless laugh followed by Ethan's loud chortle when Cat runs face first into a wall. "Okay, fuck this, I've seen one of you naked already and the other one had nothing that I don't have." She lowers her hand with a scowl, noticing for the first time that Ethan's room was arranged in the complete opposite way hers was.

"Over here, Cat," Ethan helps, pointing towards the bathroom door.

"Thanks, E." She tried not to look at the pair on the bed, sheets twisted around them as Nyah rested against Ethan, but the door to the bathroom was only a few feet away from them. "Do you have hot water?"

"The last time I checked, yeah."

"Good, cold showers just plain hurt." She quickly leaves the two lovers behind as she opens and kicks the bathroom door shut behind her, dropping her fresh clothes on the back of the toilet before moving to start her water. It may be hot as sin outside, but there was no way in hell that she was taking a cold shower unless she had no other option. As her water warmed up, she quickly brushed her teeth and examined herself in the mirror over the sink, noting the dark circles under her equally dark eyes. When she was younger her eyes were nearly black in color, but now they were more akin to fresh coffee. Her skin was an even tan color, her hair was a tangled mess that stopped just above her breasts, and she may as well be a Hobbit where height was concerned. She frowns at the laugh marks around her mouth, the corners of her lips turning downwards. Her lips were full, but she thought they were too large considering her mouth wasn't wide. Shaking her head, she quickly kicks off her clothes and steps under the spray of water before she could get too cold in the air conditioned bathroom.

Her muscles, still sore from dancing and sliding off a roof, finally relaxed and she let out a relieved sigh and just stood there for a moment. It was rare that she got this much peace during a mission, but that mission should be over with now that she and Ethan recruited Nyah. After a moment, Cat begins to wash, making quick work of her hair and shaving her legs, so that Ethan and Nyah could get a shower in before the water ran cold. Once she was dried and her hair was brushed out, she dressed in a simple dark red tee, a gray plaid skirt, Jimmy Choo black heels, and a black fedora she had found at the local Goodwill two years ago.

"What's with the fedora," Nyah laughs when Cat finally exits the bathroom, the other woman still only wrapped up in a sheet while Ethan was busy pulling on a pair of jeans.

"It makes her feel like Indiana Jones," Ethan answers before Cat had a chance, the two sharing matching grins. "Alright, Cat, how about we get this meeting over with?" Ethan pulls on a light shirt, sending Nyah a wink before leading Cat out of the room, his arm wrapped around her shoulders and tugging playfully on a strand of her dark hair. It was down today, tumbling over her shoulders in tiny curls while part of it was braided on the side. "Why do you think IMF wanted Nyah so badly?"

"Who knows," Cat replies, sliding into the passenger side and letting Ethan drive. "Maybe they want her to steal something for them?" Ethan offers a shrug, easily merging into the early afternoon traffic, a miracle considering some kind of festival was happening, and people were trying to prepare for it. "Remind me to call Isaac later, he gets worried if I don't check in before he goes to bed."

"No problem." Cat rests her hand on her stomach, watching as the scenery blurs past them while her thoughts wandered back to what her family might be doing right now. Iliana should be sleeping, but Alex was never a big enforcer of nap times. "Are you pregnant again?"

"No, why do you ask?"

"You keep rubbing your belly like you did when you were pregnant with the kiddos."

"Habit I guess." It was her turn to shrug this time, turning her gaze to watch Ethan as he drove. "Do you have any kids I don't know about?" Ethan makes a noise of surprised amusement, shaking his head quickly to disprove her theory.

"Nope, can't afford to have any since I don't feel like retiring just yet."

"Oh please, I've been retired for six years and I'm still doing the IMF's bidding." She lets out a sigh, pushing her sunglasses back up from where they'd slid down her nose. She was glad she'd chosen the skirt since it was nearly as cold out here as it was in the hotel; the skirt stopped a few inches below her thighs, that and her heels emphasizing her legs as her best features. They were toned after years of fighting and they appeared long despite how damn short she was. "When we get back, you wanna play checkers?"

"Will we put a bet on it?"

"Depends on what you have in mind."

"If you win, I have to do one thing you ask, no matter what it is."

"And if you win?"

"You have to tell me about your new boy friend." She scoffs at how predictable Ethan was, sending him a look over the edge of her glasses. "What? I think it's pretty fair considering I know you'd ask me to do something embarrassing. Besides, you haven't even let me meet the man yet."

"When did I let you meet Alexander?"

"I believe he called me from the hospital after you were admitted to give birth to Isaac." She purses her lips, having to think back to see if he was telling the truth or just being dramatic. "I remember it because I answered the phone expecting to hear your lovely voice and instead got a man squeaking out that you needed me to meet him at Cushing hospital because you were in labor and were about to break his hand for putting a baby in you in the first place."

"Oh yeah..." She really wished he was just making things up now. "Alex had to have his fingers set because I squeezed them too tightly on the way to the hospital. Let me just tell you since you'll never experience the pain first hand, contractions hurt like a bitch."

"I don't doubt it." While Alex was having his hand tended to, Cat had screamed into the phone during her contractions and Ethan had screamed right back in fear each time. "Get some rest, Cat, and I'll wake you up when we get there."

"You expect me to sleep when it's this bright out?"

"I've seen you sleep when there was heavy gunfire outside out window, and you're saying it's too bright?" She winks at him even though he can't see it, then makes herself more comfortable and allows herself a little catnap.

* * *

The next time Cat opened her eyes, it was dark and Ethan had her slung over his shoulder as he navigated through a thick crowd of people that were chanting. "If they start getting glassy-eyed and chanting Imhotep, you better start walking a little faster," she advises," you had also put me on my damn feet because I'm not the type to enjoying giving strangers a peek at my pretty red panties." Ethan laughs, doing as she said and then taking her hand to keep them from getting separated.

"You used to flash people all the time," he reminds her, skillfully dodging her hand when she makes a swipe for his head.

"It doesn't count when you're a drunk college student, buddy." Ethan laughs again, leading her to a building that was identical to all the others in its vicinity with candles placed on each step that leads up to the front door. When they stop at the door and Ethan just stares at it, Cat allows her gaze to drift between him and the door. "Is there a secret knock that you have to do or...?" Ethan makes a face, one she's seen several times on Isaac's face whenever he broke something and tried to hide evidence. "Ethan." Her mom voice makes him flinch, gazing at her sheepishly over his shoulder.

"Don't know if I'm ready to face Swanbeck yet." Now Cat was making a face, having never gotten along with the mission commander after the little escapade in Budapest. How was she supposed to know that the spy she shot was his daughter-in-law? Swallowing hard, Cat raises her hand and knocks on the door, beating out the tune of Shave and a Haircut. A few seconds later, the door is opened by a large man in nice pants, a gray tee, and a suit jacket. "Seeker and Confessor to see Swanbeck." Seeker and Confessor was their code names when they were meeting a higher up outside the main office, Cat never understood it until she read the _Sword of Truth_ series. The big man studied them before giving a nod before ushering them inside and closing the door behind them.

"This way," he mumbles, his English heavily accented. They follow him up the stairs to the last room in the hall, the big man opening the door for them. Swanbeck was standing beside a large window, dressed in darker clothes that made his sparse white hair stand out even more in the darkness of the room.

"Espresso," Swanbeck offers as the door is shut behind them," Cappuccino?"

"No, thanks," Ethan returns with a polite smile.

"I promised my son I'd cut back on the caffeine," Cat lies easily.

"Why don't you both sit down," Swanbeck suggests, gesturing towards the table. Cat declines with a shake of her head, her legs still stiff from the long car ride here; she paces from the window and back to the door, wrapping a lock of her hair around one finger and tugging gently on it. She didn't think she'd ever be able to kick that particular habit, but at least she wasn't chewing on her fingernails (every time she tired when she was younger, her aunt would whack her hand) or biting her cheek (again, her aunt would whack her head for it). Hair was the safest option, her aunt couldn't get annoyed at it since she did it, too. "Alveres, please, you're going to drive me mad." Swanbeck pulls a chair out and stares at Cat until she dropped into it with a scowl. "Sorry I barged in on your vacation, and I wish I could have just left you in retirement."

"Is there a point to all of this besides apologies?" She was tired, she was hungry, and the smoke from outside was making her asthma try to flare back to life after being dormant for nearly ten years. "You're sorry and we're sorry, get on with it."

"Why did you phrase it like that?" Ethan lets out a huff of laughter, both he and Cat staring up at the older man that was still standing at the end of the table.

"You're kidding, right," Ethan asks. Without answering, Swanbeck raises the top of the laptop and presses a button that made a small video screen appear and begin to play. The man in the video was tall and lanky with a receding hairline and a bushy mustache—both a pale brown with some white and gray—he wore glasses, and Cat knew that he was Russian before the video had started to play. She's met this man once, ran a protection detail while Ethan gained his trust in order to get closer, but Cat had never really talked to the man. His name was Vladimir Nekhorvich and he was a genius when it came to creating viruses and antiviruses.

"Well, Dmitri," the video began," once again I need your help, just as in the old days, huh? Hopefully that young woman you told me about will be able to help as well, I would very much like to see if she's as sarcastic as you said she was." Cat reaches out to grasp Ethan's hand and he squeezes it back as they slowly realize Nekhorvich wouldn't have left them a video if her were still alive to tell them in person. "When you saved our lives, saved our very sanity. Dmitri...We have, uh, this little problem. Every search for a hero must begin with something that every hero requires, a villain. Therefore, in the search for our hero, Bellerophon, we created a monster: Chimera. I beg you, Dmitri, come to Sydney and accompany me to Atlanta immediately. However we travel, I must arrive at my destination within twenty hours of our departure. I fear I can entrust this to no one but you. Dmitri. As we say, I'm sorry, and you are sorry. "

"Do either of you have any idea what the hell he's talking about," Swanbeck inquires, standing by the window again. He'd closed it at some point while Ethan and Cat had been distracted, and now Cat could breathe a little easier.

"An idea? Yeah." _I'm glad you do, because I'm completely lost here_.

"Like it's a good idea to pick him up in a hurry and a bad idea to fly him on a commercial carrier, so let's get on with it. Is he still in Sydney?"

"Doctor Vladimir Nekhorvich is dead." The way he said it wasn't with remorse or sadness, Swanbeck seemed wary, like he was being spread thin from all the missions he has to keep straight in his head. "So is his colleague Gradski, but that happened earlier. We had Nekhorvich on a flight from Sydney that crashed into the Rockies." Ethan squeezes Cat's hand a little harder as the words sink in, and Cat stands to wrap her arms around him in a hug. "Are you both listening to me?"

"If he didn't want to go anywhere without me, how did you get him on that flight?"

"Oh, you were there." Swanbeck walks over and presses another button, Cat's stomach doing flips as two pictures appear on the screen; one was Ethan and the other was a man they used to double Ethan since they were both roughly the same size. Sean Ambrose was ruthless, though, with longish brown hair, chiseled features, and a Scottish accent that could make you melt, but Cat knew he was the world's biggest dick. "When I couldn't find you, I had to replace you. Sean Ambrose was the obvious choice. He doubled you two or three times."

"Twice."

"And both times completely sucked for me," Cat adds with a glare in Swanbeck's direction. "Ambrose should be put down, his missions may be successful, but he's one misstep away from becoming a mass-murdering psychopath that could put H.H. Holmes to shame." Swanbeck nods, taking the small stack of papers from the big guy that led them upstairs.

"A Captain Harold Macintosh was listed as the pilot of flight 2207," Swanbeck states," as far as the media and all the governmental agencies are concerned, Captain Macintosh died in the flight, but, in fact, he missed it." He shuffles the pages, glancing up every now and again. "He did, however, make the next flight in cargo. Stuffed into a rather small suitcase, considering his size." Swanbeck hands the papers to Ethan, but Cat glances away in disgust when she sees a photo of the poor Captain. "Someone on that flight planned an operation designed to bring the plane down and make it look like an accident; someone skillful enough to bring the whole thing off without a hitch."

"Someone seems to have succeeded as far as the media and governmental agencies are concerned."

"Quite so."

"Well, there's one thing we know that Ambrose doesn't," Ethan offers, dropping the pages on the table as Cat begins her pacing again.

"Then you do think it was Ambrose? You're not surprised?"

"I trust Cat's feeling when it comes to people since she had to read them when she was younger in order to survive those snooty private schools, and Sean feels he hasn't done the job unless he leaves a lot of hats on the ground."

"The question is why." _Not much of a question, Ambrose is a loony that hasn't been locked away yet_. "What was this Chimera Nekhorvich was carrying?" Cat pauses at the window, looking down at the crowed street as people pass by, some helping to support the paper-mâché floats of their Saints.

"Only Ambrose knows that."

"In any case, the two of you must recover Chimera and bring it to us." Cat scoffs when Swanbeck makes it sound like the easiest thing in the world, shaking her head a little but not looking away from the sight below. Those people were happy and celebrating down there, while Cat's stuck up here with an old windbag that forgets how difficult it was to use skills against an agents that has those same skills without the burden of a conscious.

"In order to do that, we have to figure out how he plans to make money off it."

"That is where Miss Hall comes in."

"Excuse me," Ethan asks at the same time Cat says," she's just a civilian."

"Miss Hall and Ambrose had a relationship which he took very seriously. She walked away, and he's been wanting her back ever since."

"Gee," Cat says sarcastically," I wonder why any mostly sane person would leave his ass in the dust? He's just a wonderful human being with a respect for life that would make Mother Theresa look like the poster child for STDs."

"Alveres, do me a favor and shut up." Swanbeck clears his throat after sending a stern look in Cat's direction that had her rolling her eyes and facing the window again. "We believe Miss Hall is our surest and quickest way of locating him. "

"And then what," Ethan asks.

"Well, make sure she continues to see him, gets him to confide in her, and report to you two." Ethan joins Cat at the window and she can see his hands starting to shake from the anger that was pulsing through him. She couldn't blame him, IMF had made them think they were recruiting Nyah to join IMF, much the same way they had been recruited, and now they were being told that she would be used as bait, a woman with hardly any of the skills or training needed to complete this mission successfully.

"You made it sound as if we were recruiting her for her skills as a thief."

"Then I mislead you or you made the wrong assumption and shared it with Alveres. Either way, we are asking her to resume a prior relationship, not do anything she hasn't already done. Voluntarily, I might add."

"No, she's got no training for this kind of thing."

"I suppose we could use Alveres instead, though I doubt he'll buy that she somehow fell in love with him. No, Ambrose would have her killed before she made it over the threshold, that's why we need Miss Hall." Ethan catches Cat around the waist when she lunges for Swanbeck, four-letter words that would make a sailor blush coming out of her mouth faster than Ethan had thought possible.

"I don't think I can get her to do it," Ethan grunts, struggling to keep Cat from scratching Swanbeck's eyes out for even thinking that she wouldn't be able to handle herself, let alone put her in a position that would cause her to sleep with a man she can't stand. After Cat realizes that Ethan won't let her get close enough to accomplish what she wants, Cat goes limp and he allows her to slump down to the floor, her back resting against one of his legs.

"You mean it'll be difficult?"

"That's one way of putting it," Cat grumbles.

"This is not Mission: Difficult, it's Mission: Impossible; difficult should be a walk in the park for the both of you. I'm open to suggestions if either of you can think of a quicker way to get to Ambrose, you're welcome to try. By the way, you might want to take another look at these if you have any further qualms about getting her to do the job." The big guy sets a camera down on the table before taking a couple of steps back, looking more like a body guard than anything else.

"You get to break the news, and I'm going to hide out in my room to keep her from killing me when she's finished with you, buddy," Cat tells Ethan with a smirk.


	5. Chapter 5

Cat had just crawled into bed when someone knocked on the door to her room, drawing an irritated, not to mention loud, groan from the tired woman. _Maybe if I ignore it, they'll go away_. The knock sounds again and Cat reluctantly drags herself out of bed and shuffles over to the door. She had expected it to be room service, Ethan, or Nyah, but who she saw when she opened the door instead had her eyes widening and her hand clutching the knob a little tighter.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Okay," Will says with a laugh," I was expecting something a little on the happier side, but I guess that'll work." Cat shakes her head in shock, opening and closing her mouth as she searches for something to say. "I finished early and thought I'd spend the night with you before heading back to HQ." When Cat doesn't move, Will lets out a sigh and scoops her up in his arms, kicking the door shut behind him. "I think this is where you make a bad attempt at flirting and then I kiss you to make you shut up, but I guess I missed something."

"No, it's just…. How did you know where I was?"

"The Secretary owed me a favor." Will shrugs, dropping Cat onto the bed and laughing when she lets out a surprised squeal. "So can I stay or should I get myself a room?" Over the shock of seeing her boyfriend, Cat rises up on her knees in order to grab the front of Will's dress shirt, tugging him onto the bed before straddling his waist.

"Well, you did travel all this way just to say hi."

"Yes I did," Will nods, resting his hands on my hips and rubbing light circles with his thumbs. "Have I earned a thank you for that?"

"Mm, why not?" Smiling, she rests her hands on either side of his head, the fluffy white pillow cushioning them against the hard mattress. "You completed your mission and you're still in one piece." Winking, I close the distance between us and press my lips firmly against him, letting out a soft moan as he returns it with equal fervor. Will was one of the best men Cat's ever kissed because he put everything he had into them, he made her forget everything except the feel of him pressing against her or the smell of his cologne as it filled her head. Will takes advantage of her moment of weakness by flipping them so that he was on top, one of his legs between both of hers. They parted long enough for him to pull the oversized T-shirt over her head and toss it somewhere over his shoulder before they started kissing again. She could feel all of him pressing against her, the hard muscles moving beneath her hands and the stubble covering his cheeks. She could feel jagged scars that marred the smooth skin of his back from fights he'd been in during missions and as a teenager. Will moves from Cat's lips to her neck, biting and sucking there until he had her writhing beneath him.

Everywhere he touched felt like it caught on fire, she was burning and aching and couldn't get enough. He was like a drug that she kept coming back to, she didn't want to give him up, and so she kept finding a way to get more and more. Not that it was a bad thing—oh no, it was the complete opposite and she loved him for it. She lets out a loud moan, grinding against his leg for some much needed friction as one of his hands came up to massage a bra-clad breast. She needed this—God, did she need it—needed the sweet relief and soothing bliss that accompanied it afterwards. Just as Cat's hands drifted to Will's belt and began to undo it, the door to her room opens and Ethan sticks his fat annoying head inside.

"Hey, Cat," he calls without seeing her at first," Nyah and I-" He pauses when he catches sight of his half-naked friend with a man hovering over her, Cat giving him a glare he was sure could make Lucifer shiver in his boots. "Shit, sorry!" The door slams shut hurriedly and the lovers go back to what they were doing only to pause again when the door opens for a second time. "Is that the guy you're dating?"

"Yes," Cat answers, giving Ethan a pointed look. He knew that look well, it was one that meant she would ensure he'd not get laid for a month.

"Nice to finally meet you!"

"You too," Will returns with a tense smile, staring at Ethan until the door was shut again and they heard his excited voice in the next room telling Nyah all about what had happened. "Well, that ruined the mood." Will sighs, rolling off Cat and lying beside her on the bed. Cat turns only her head in order to see him, a smile playing on her lips seconds before both of them burst into fits of laughter. If they were completely honest, it had been pretty funny to see the mortified expression on Ethan's face and Cat wouldn't let him live it down any time soon. "I guess I'll go take a shower and you can go help Ethan with whatever he needed."

"I'll try to make it fast," Cat murmurs, sitting up and plating a chaste kiss on his lips before getting out of bed and pulling on the tee.

"You're going to do your job in a tee shirt and underwear?"

"Ethan should just feel lucky I even bothered with the tee." She gives him a mischievous wink over her shoulder before disappearing out into the hallway. When she walks into the room Ethan and Nyah were sharing, she found the couple lounging on the bed, Nyah smiling at something Ethan whispered in her ear. "As cute as this moment is, I'd like to get back to my boyfriend." If they were surprised to find Cat there so soon, they didn't show it and Ethan just moved to the desk to pick up a familiar syringe. 

“She wants you to be the one to inject the transponder chip into her ankle,” Ethan explains, handing the syringe off to Cat. She shrugs, perching on the edge of the bed and pulling Nyah’s ankle onto her lap, carefully inserting the rather thick needle into the skin covered by a small tattoo.

“Let me get this straight, you’ll let him put his dick in you, but not a needle?”


	6. Chapter 6

Cat looks up from her book when she hears the whirring of helicopter blades, quickly marking her place and following Ethan outside to greet the two agents joining them. Once they had sent out false reports about Nyah being arrested and Ambrose had bailed her out, the two IMF agents followed the fake couple all the way to freaking Australia of all places. Of course, Cat took advantage of her Crocodile Dundee knowledge and quoted the movie whenever possible.

The only real downside she saw about the new location—all the animals trying to kill her aside—was the damn heat. She may have been born in Spain and she may have endured the hottest weather in Oklahoma, but she also spent a lot of time in London and definitely preferred their cold days to any sweltering heat. So she chose the smart way to dress, a pink and blue plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, short jean shorts, a pair of loose-laced boots, and her Mother's Day ring. Ethan, on the other hand, was dressed in a light yet long-sleeved top, boots, cargo pants, and a jacket of all things. The man had to be the stupidest person she's met.

She and Ethan meet the two agents at a halfway point, Cat offering a big grin for Luther and the Aussie Ethan had chosen to be their backup. "Ethan Hunt and Catarina Alveres," the Aussie checks, his duffle slung over his shoulder. Before either of them could manage to get a word out, the guy was talking again, fast paced with a thick accent. "G'day, I'm William Baird, but Billy's okay. Anything you need me to get, move, or watch, I'm your man." He shook their hands energetically with a smile still plastered in place. "I'll have a look around." And then he was walking past them into the farmhouse, leaving the other three outside with amused looks on their faces. He reminded Cat of some of the little old men in Oklahoma that could walk into a room full of strangers and leave friends with all of them.

"Is he on drugs," Cat asks Luther, swatting his large hand away when he ruffles her hair. "I mean, how in the hell does he talk that fast and not be on something?"

"Come on, Cat," Ethan chides," Don't judge until you see him snorting something."

"No promises, E."

"If it makes you feel any better," Luther states as they start back towards the farmhouse," he didn't crash us when he flew us down here, so he might not be high right now." Ethan holds the screen door open for the other two, following behind and letting it slam shut again as Luther sets a bag gently on the small dining table. "Alright, does she have the transponder chip?"

"Yep, I injected her myself." Luther raises a brow at that, but doesn't comment. Cat moves into the kitchen, fixing the loose side ponytail from where Luther had mussed it on purpose. If he knew how hard it was to get her hair under control every day, then he'd leave it alone for once. As she stops in front of one of the windows and stares out at the farm, her mind begins to wander. Her first thought was about her kids, wondering if Iliana was doing okay since she wasn't used to being away from Cat for so long. Isaac would be okay after few phone calls from her, but it didn't make all of this any easier.

His birthday was coming up, he'd be nine soon and it doesn't seem like it's possible. It may be cliché, but time really does seem to fly when you're kept busy, and her kids really did keep her busy. Isaac has soccer practice after school on Mondays and Wednesdays, games on Saturdays, plus his reading group at the library. Iliana on the other hand was learning how to walk and had a love of eating the Lego pieces that Isaac left lying around. She didn't sleep through the night most of the time, so being able to sleep in was nice, but Cat would much rather be wide awake at two in the morning as long as she had her babies in her arms.

"Cat," Ethan calls a few minutes later, walking over to her," we have a visual."

"Good," she nods, noticing how low in the sky the sun was getting.  _What time is it in Oklahoma?_  Would Isaac still let his daddy tuck him in and read him a story like he used to? More importantly, would Alexander remember how to get Iliana to bed? "What time is it back home?"

"You can call them at midnight." Ethan pats her shoulder before leaving the room, appearing a few minutes later outside the window and staring ahead at the sunset. There's not really any trees here, no wildlife or noises that Cat was familiar with, so sleep wouldn't come easy tonight if she slept at all. She lets out a sigh, setting an alarm on her phone and walking over to the couch in the living room.

"I'm gonna try and sleep, wake me up if something interesting happens."

* * *

"What do you mean you've never had drunk sex?"

"Nope," Billy answers, his voice coming clearly through the ear piece Cat had in," I've never done it."

"Damn, boy, you deserve a gold star or something because you're the only friend I have that can say that honestly."

"When was your last drunken debacle?"

"Well, last time I had drunk sex, I had two kids with the guy and he lived with me for close to eight years." Billy gives a low whistle at that and Cat smiles fondly. As annoying as he was, Alexander was a great father and she knew he'd protect their kids no matter the cost. At least she didn't have to worry about the babies if something happened to her. She looks around her at the swarms of people, the racetrack crowded and smelling of horse dung and sweat.

"Looks like it's my chance to get the pamphlet to Nyah." The line goes quiet and Cat's left to her own thoughts, observing the way everyone was dressed in their Sunday best despite the heat. Cat herself had dressed nicely in a black dress that hugged all the right places and left the upper part of her back bare, a teardrop diamond necklace that stopped just above her breasts, ruby studs in her ears, and a pair of expensive red heels that added half a foot to her height.

Cat had never considered horse races to be fun, but being forced to come to one while keeping an eye on a man she didn't like only made her hate the event even more. Her uncle used to bring her to these when he visited, he thought it would be a great way to introduce her to high society kids her age, but all that happened was that she started drinking once she turned seventeen. As Ethan and Nyah struck up a conversation, she kept her eyes moving until she caught sight of the man she was meant to spy on. Sliding her sunglasses over her eyes, she takes a half-full glass of champagne off the bar and makes her way towards Ambrose.

Doing her best drunken swagger, she allows herself to bump into Ambrose, some of the drink spilling on his fancy jacket. "Sorry," she slurs with a giggle," not quite used to the heat yet." It took some difficulty on her part, but she managed to speak in the posh English accent her aunt used, no trace of her natural Spanish accent present. "Is it always this hot here?"

"Afraid so," Ambrose nods, but he gaze is focused elsewhere.

"God, I got some on your jacket! Let me take care of it, I know a great dry cleaner."

"It's alright, don't worry about it." He delivers a light pat to her shoulder before moving past her to meet someone else at the other end of the bar, leaving Cat to take up a spot at an empty table and watch him using the reflective glass.

"Ambrose is meeting some bloke in the bar," Billy announces," completely blew off Cat. Big bloke, ginger hair." He must have been able to see the expression on Cat's face because he quickly added," Not that he had a good reason to blow you off, Cat, you look great."

"One of y'all needs to teach Billy when to shut up," Cat remarks, leaning back in her seat to try and see what had Ambrose and the ginger so occupied. "Ambrose is showing him something on a camera, but I don't have an angle to see the pictures."

"It's alright, Cat," Ethan says. "Does anyone recognize the ginger?"

"Nope."

"He's the CEO of Biocyte Pharmaceuticals," Luther answers a moment later," named John McCloy."

"Take away that L and we could have a good laugh at that." Luther snorts and Billy outright laughs, but Cat gets nothing on Ethan's end. "Oh come on, E, you know that was funny."

"Don't worry, Ethan's just buried in his work and wishing his face was—"

"What else can you tell us, Luther," Ethan interrupts, but everyone knew what Luther had been about to say. It was clear that Ethan was already attached to Nyah and Cat was afraid something might go wrong because of that attachment. Hell, they were almost murdered a few years ago when the people they considered family turned on them!

"You're no fun today." There a few muffled tapping sounds as Luther works on his computer, then his deep voice fills the device again. "Alright, McCloy was Nekhorvich's boss and acquired the company in a hostile takeover."

"Well," Cat states," whatever McCloy is looking at just made his panties twist into a bunch, but Ambrose looks as smug as he usually does." It was true, McCloy looks like someone had just spoiled the end of Star Wars for him while Ambrose looked like the spoiler. "Memory card is going in an envelope and the envelope is going in Ambrose's inner left jacket pocket." Her throat dry, Cat brings the glass to her lips and quickly spits her drink back in the glass when she remembers what she held. She had never liked champagne and it didn't seem like that would change any time soon.

Ambrose stands and grabs his drink before making his way out of the bar, not even looking in Cat's direction as he leaves.  _Now that's just a blow to my ego_. "Billy," Ethan instructs," make sure Nyah's not followed." Billy gives the affirmative. "Luther, digital camera, make sure it's ready to transmit. Betting table twelve. Cat, get yourself a real drink and meet me downstairs."

"You got it, Boss." Deciding she had earned it, she purchases a beer and then makes her way down the stairs, weaving through the crowds of people until she was standing next to Luther. "He seem kind of grumpy to you?"

"Unusually so," Luther confirms as they make their way towards the couple.

"Hey, not so fast, I'm in heels."

"Don't even try to blame being slow on those heels. You forget that I've seen you sprint three blocks in those things, it was like something out of a movie." With a proud smile, Cat flicks some of her loose hair over her shoulder.

"It's true, I have a gift." They were still smiling when they reach the couple, the smiles dimming as they take in the intense staring competition happening in front of them. “Should we leave and come back or…?” Ethan doesn’t say anything, only breaking eye contact with Nyah long enough to take the digital camera from Luther, the larger man grasping Cat’s wrist and tugging her after him. “That’s not going to end well, is it?”

“This is Ethan’s love life we’re talking about.” Cat nods and crosses her arms over her chest as they walk towards the white van Luther had driven here. It would be nice to get out of the heat and enjoy her cold beer, and from here she could observe everyone else with her friend.

“Why can’t Ethan just fall in love with a girl that doesn’t have a criminal background or a homicidal boyfriend? I mean, just once I’d like to introduce her to my kids without omitting the fact that she’s robbed sixteen banks and a liquor store.”

“If that ever happens I’ll pay you ten bucks.”

“You’re on, Stickell.”


End file.
